If there are portals to other worlds anywhere in this one, they’re definitely in New York City. And other places, sure. But spend any time in NYC and it will seem all too obvious that a person could turn a corner and disappear. Some more easily than others.
“Would you even know if you crossed into a fairy tale?” a voice asks, offscreen, in this eerie trailer for The Changeling, based on the novel by Victor LaValle. The series premieres next month on Apple TV+, and while it certainly looks different from the book, it also looks intensely appealing.
The synopsis is teasingly short:
Based on the acclaimed bestselling book of the same name by Victor LaValle, The Changeling is a fairytale for grown-ups. A horror story, a parenthood fable and a perilous odyssey through a New York City you didn’t know existed.
As Leah Schnelbach pointed out while reviewing the novel, this isn’t “a Disney-fied ‘happily ever after’ fairy tale, but an old school, Eastern European, bloody, serious-as-death-itself fairy tale.” This, you definitely pick up in this trailer, where everything is ominous, and loaded, and possibly somehow threatening, even if it’s just a little girl standing on a sidewalk. There’s definitely a “be careful what you wish for” vibe—and countless disorienting images that suggest a vivid, haunting, and gorgeous show.
The Changeling stars LaKeith Stanfield (Sorry to Bother You) and Clark Backo (Station Eleven) as Apollo and Emma, the central couple; Adina Porter, Samuel T. Herring, Alexis Louder, Jared Abrahamson, and Malcolm Barrett are also in the cast. Kelly Marcel (Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Cruella) is writer, showrunner, and executive producer, and Victor LaValle is among the producers.
This series has been in development since 2017, and it’s wonderful to see it so close to landing on our screens. The Changeling premieres September 8th on Apple TV+.
This post was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, The Changeling wouldn’t exist.
